Teahna Daniels takes to the track one week after setting the nation's fastest mark in the 100 meters, 11.82, at the Texas Relays. Can she double back and repeat her feat? She won this event last year, handing newly turned pro Kaylin Whitney one of two losses on the season in 11.43s (2.2m/s wind). The prelims will take place at 6:00 p.m. from Percy Beard Track with the finals Friday at 1:00. Daniels top competition will come from Khalifa St. Fort of St. Thomas Aquinas who was second to her at Texas Relays, her teammate Krystal Sparling, as well as Alfreda Steele of Pasco the 2A state runner-up who finished 7th at New Balance Indoor Nationals, and Symone Mason of South Ridge.
The distance events will serve as the bookend for the 2015 Florida Relays. The 1,600m run will kick off the event while the 800 and 3200m runs will close the show. In the four lap event, the field isn't as high powered as we saw at FSU Relays last week or at the 2014 Florida Relays where we saw three girls under 5:00 in a very close race that came down to the wire. The top entrants include Katie Pinell (5:11.36) Kelly Aponte (5:12.04), Harley Horsey (5:14.28) , and Lindsay Tomaini (5:14.61).
State leader Caitlyn Collier of Bolles ran 2:11.88 at the UNF Spring Break Invitational in a race they didn't even feature in their training plans! Lauren Archer the FSU Relays runner-up is also in the field along with Brooke Crane (FL#7), Alon Lewis of St. Thomas Aquinas, Katie Pinnel, and Kayla Johnson.
Day one will conclude with the girls 3,200m run. Hannah Brookover, Alexa Cruz, and Sarah Candiano are the only girls in the field to have gone under 11 minutes this season. Watch out for Emma Rudman. We haven't seen or heard a ton about her this year, but she's pumped for this one and has a great kick.
On day two, the St. Thomas Aquinas girls will look to improve on their US #11 ranking in the 4x100m relay, but they will have to do so without star Diamond Spaulding. Plus, on Saturday the Winter Park girls will debut their 4x800m relay and the American boys 4x400m will look to bounce back from their 3:15 showing at Texas Relays and drop some serious fast times!
STAY TUNED for more coverage including race videos, interviews, photos, recaps, results & more throughout the weekend!
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- Pepsi Florida Relays Meet Page
- Schedule
- Thursday Heat Sheets
- Friday Heat Sheets
- Saturday Heat Sheets
- Article: Nine College/Elite Events To Watch (Via USTFCCCA)
